The much-awaited break from work and the need for fresh air, forced us to get out of home after 3 months. We decided to head to Bhadra wildlife sanctuary run by Jungle lodges Resort, an undertaking of Government of Karnataka.  

We left early morning by 6.10 am on a week day (Thursday) to avoid the traffic in city. The drive through Nice road from Kanakapura road to Tumkur connecting the NH 48 at Nelamangala Highway toll which takes you till Hiriyur (174kms) and then on the state highway (Tarikere -Hosadurga road) known as TH road for another 100 kms till Tarikere. From there it takes another 30 minutes’ drive to Lakkavalli town where the Bhadra reservoir, Dam and wildlife sanctuary is located. From the town its around 4/5 kms to reach the Jungle lodges resort, named as River Tern, Bhadra for its famous migratory bird River Tern, which comes during every summer months.

The entire drive was a very pleasant experience which took around 5 hours to reach the resort with few breaks, first at Shree Rathnam before Tumkur for breakfast and later for few photoshoots of natural landscapes enroute.

After Hosadurga, towards Tarekere, this beautiful lake and the windmills in the hillocks is a must stop place for few minutes.

The River tern Jungle lodges resort is located in the beautiful banks of River Bhadra and the altitude with rough terrain gives it more rugged feel and sense of living in an uninhabited place. The Check-in is normally around 1 pm and we were early by an hour, so we enjoyed strolling around the water side and exploring the surroundings. By 1 we checked in to our cottage. They have deluxe cottages and log huts. Log huts are closer to reception, dining and parking areas where as deluxe rooms are situated at little higher level and need to walk few steep steps to reach the cottages. The tired legs through the steep steps get calm and peace, the moment you step in to the balcony. Experiencing the scenic view of the River Bhadra with its vast green pasture and the beautiful mountains at the back drop is truly serene.

We thoroughly rested for an hour and then headed to have a nice good vegetarian lunch and was ready for the day 1 safari trip. On first day afternoon we took boat ride and it started raining heavily in the initial period. As expected, the wildlife movements were not there, due to rains. The ride for 2 hours was a very pleasant experience compared to Jeep wildlife safaris.

Found few cormorants, Osprey catching its fish and by 5.55 pm when about to return saw herds of elephants coming to river to quench their thirst. That was an amazing sight. Around 6-7 baby calves surrounded by the female herds (25 in total) was the stunning view. We could witness the true elephant Behaviour when they saw the boat and people, a sense of threat to the calves, all adults surrounded their young ones and formed a beautiful fence around their herds. The rain god also started smiling at us by slowly paving ways to sun rays. The beautiful golden hour of the evening was captured in our memories and DSLR and returned back. The day was ended with peaceful note of elephant sighting and nice dinner.

On day two, we left for our jeep safari into Bhadra wildlife forest sanctuary by 6.30 am. Again, it started to rain and the whole of previous night it was pouring. As by nature’s law, we too anticipated there will not be much movements of big cats in the rainy season.  We just spotted the deer’s, few Gaurs and lot of peacocks and peahens. The drive inside the lush, thick green forest during monsoon time, itself is an experience even if you have done jeep safaris inside wild. The evening jeep safari was also of similar experience except able to spot orange breasted thrush, a few barking deer’s and common Iora’s.

To enjoy the peace and serene environment, on day 3 we skipped our safari rides and walked around the resort, went up to the Bhadra dam which is located a kilometer away from the stay. With a pleasant morning weather and nice sunshine, able to spot beautiful river tern, grey heron and kingfisher diving for their preys in the dam canals.

It was a memorable experience to enjoy the boat ride, jeep safari and be on your own and absorbing the entire serenity surrounded in the lush green forests will last till we venture out for our next nature drive;)

Places of Interest:

Tarekere: Famous Amartesvara temple ( 12th Century Hoysala Architecure)

Bhadra Dam

2 hours drive to Kemmangindi/Mullayangirri peak